Should You Buy a Salvage Title Car?

Should You Buy a Salvage Title Car?

Milad Hassibi June 15, 2018

If you are a person that walks away from a used car when you hear the words “Salvage Title”, you may have a point. Salvage title cars still attract buyers because they cost significantly less than a car with a clean title. Although you could be saving thousands, there is a lot of risks when it comes to buying a salvage title car.

A salvage title means that the car was in an accident, theft, or disaster that deemed it as a “Loss” to the insurance company. Instead of paying to fix the vehicle, the insurer cuts the owner a check and proceeds to auction off the car to various dealers and auto repair shops.

The auto repair shops will fix the car and resell it for a small profit, even with the salvage title attached. It’s important to know that you can never remove a salvage title for a car, and many insurers will not provide insurance for a salvage car.

If you have been thinking about pulling the trigger on a salvage title car, there are few things you will need to consider:

Safety

Many of the repair shops who fix and resell salvage title cars will use money saving techniques that can make for a less safe car. It is not uncommon for many of these shops to ignore replacing faulty airbags and using poorly done welds to make repairs to the car itself.

Fraud

If you contact somebody who is trying to sell a salvage title car, they will often tell you that the car was deemed salvage due to a minor fender bender or theft. However, there are usually no records as to how bad the damage was.

Although a sly salesman may try to tell you that the car was in a small accident, you must assume that it was major enough for the insurance companies to realize it was worth cutting the owner a check instead of paying for the repair.

Insurance

As mentioned it can be very difficult to find an insurance company that will insure a salvage title car. This is because there is no accurate way to price out the value of a salvage car.

Before You Buy

If the savings are enticing enough, you may be ready to pull the trigger on a salvage title car. If so, you should always take the car to your local mechanic to do a pre-purchase inspection. An inspection can help you save thousands of dollars in headaches down the road since the mechanic can tell you more about the mechanical shape of the car.

Final Note

All in all, purchasing a new car can be an exciting time. However, if you have less than ideal credit, you may have a harder time finding financing. CrediReady can help you get the financing you need regardless of credit scores or credit history. Take a moment to fill out our free no obligation loan inquiry form to get approved for the car of your dreams today!